Music historians have observed informally that Western music became
increasingly chromatic between roughly 1600 and 1900. This view is tested formally,
and the results are shown to be consistent with the standard view. Music historians
have similarly assumed that the music of major composers such as Mozart and
Beethoven became increasingly chromatic over their respective lifetimes.
Measurements of chromaticism in both theme-based and opus-based samples are
shown to be inconsistent with these intuitions. At face value, the results of this study
affirm that Western art music has become more chromatic over time, but that five
major composers' use of chromatic tones changed little (quantitatively) over the course
of their careers. Repercussions for stylistic interpretations of these composers are
discussed.

ISSN:

1559-5749

Other Identifiers:

EMR000018a

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/1811/24822

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